CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Police is expanding its use of facial recognition technology to identify and track criminals, with photographs of 29,416 active criminals already uploaded to its Facial Recognition System (FRS).
The exercise is part of a statewide effort to build and update a digital database of active criminals. Police have physically verified 47,124 criminals across the state till October 29, while 11 districts have completed 100 per cent verification.
Chairing a review meeting at the Police Headquarters in Panchkula on Thursday, DGP Ajay Singhal said the Facial Recognition System played a vital role in identifying criminals. “The data uploaded to the system will remain available for future reference and will help in identifying criminals and monitoring their activities,” he said.
Singhal directed districts that had completed the verification of active criminals to upload data on proclaimed offenders (POs), bail jumpers and most-wanted criminals to the system within the next two weeks.
Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Rakesh Arya said physical verification of 47,124 active criminals had been completed across the state as of October 29, and photographs of 29,416 had been uploaded to the system. Eleven districts had completed 100 per cent verification.
Singhal also directed officers to ensure that CCTV cameras installed at all 389 police stations and 327 police posts remained functional. A total of 6,644 cameras have been installed under the project by the Haryana Police Housing Corporation.
During the review, Superintendent of Police (ERSS) Harish Jain said Haryana had 389 police stations and 327 police posts across its 24 districts.
Singhal directed that a committee be formed to review camera locations, operational status, technical faults and network-related issues, and ensure that deficiencies were rectified within a stipulated timeframe. He also asked all Superintendents of Police to hold regular district-level meetings to review the status of CCTV cameras.
The meeting also reviewed night nakabandi. Apart from 250 permanent checking points, 288 additional nakabandi points have been identified across the state. Regular checking is being conducted at 40 sensitive locations and border areas, and the list of additional points has been shared with the concerned districts.
Singhal said night nakabandi was yielding positive results and directed senior officers to personally supervise the arrangements. He also asked officers to ensure that CCTV cameras were available and regularly monitored at checking points.
The Haryana Police has also been conducting a special drive against vehicles without number plates and High Security Registration Plates (HSRPs) since June 1. Till October 28, 31.22 lakh vehicles had been checked, 2.72 lakh challans issued and 22,269 vehicles impounded.
Singhal also directed officers to reduce the response time of Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs), stressing the importance of prompt police assistance during emergencies.
